


Abandoned

by RedKitsune



Series: Medicine [2]
Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Broken Hearts, Established Relationship, F/M, Halloween, He never calls, He never visits, Hurt feelings, Original Character(s), Relationship Problems, Ruined halloween, She's lonely, Stephen Strange and Wong are away, The asshole, relationship neglect
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-22
Updated: 2018-10-22
Packaged: 2019-08-05 17:02:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16371593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedKitsune/pseuds/RedKitsune
Summary: Doctor Reiko Martin and Doctor Stephen Strange had been a couple for three months time. Things were great, until they weren't. With Stephen and Wong gone for over three weeks time with nearly no contact, Reiko is left to her own devices. When Halloween approaches she can't help but feel abandoned and alone. What will Stephen Strange find when he returns home, if anything at all? (can be read independently of Medicine as a oneshot)





	Abandoned

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings: Just some angst. Some hints at a potential sequel for Medicine.

 

     With an annoyed huff, Reiko yanked on the bloody arm, dragging the disemboweled body a few more feet off the side of the steps, propping the body up against the side of the building in a mess of orange, red and brown leaves. Red and orange hair fell in wisps around her face, escaping the messy bun that contained most of the fiery locks. Dirt and crumpled leaves marred the light tan of her knee length trench coat but she didn't care.

     White spider webs covered the railings and hung from the bricks, complete with obscenely large spiders and lights in the window that would glow a soft purple later that night. Inside, just off to the side of the door sat a heavy cauldron, filled with candy. When it came time to leave later that night, she would set it outside so that the children could still collect candy even with no one free to answer the door. At least until the supply ran out.

     She could just picture it when they returned, if they returned while the decorations were still up. The sigh Stephen would heave and the roll of his eyes. Wong would of course smirk behind his Master's back, he always seemed entertained by her antics and how they sometimes grated on her boyfriend of three months.

     Really, he deserved this. She had moved into the sanctum on what was intended to be a temporary basis and she ended up never leaving. Most of her things were held in a small storage unit in Seattle or sold off. Reiko had every intention of finding her own place but the cost of rents were astronomical and it kept getting put off and now it seemed that this was her home. With it being her home, one would think she'd not feel so abandoned being left to her own devices for most of October.

     With a stretch, she admired her work in the small space they called a yard. It really was little more than a two foot wide strip of grass between the sidewalk and the wall of the building but she did what she could with it just the same. Inside, on the dining room table sat two pumpkins waiting to be carved. Why two? Because even now she hoped he would come home and they could celebrate their first holiday together. Sure, it wasn't a romantic one by most standards but it was their first.

     It was a impulsive decision, to decorate for the holiday. She had planned on sitting at home and waiting for Stephen's return but she had had enough of that. Many days, many nights had been spent waiting and hardly a word was sent from where Stephen and Wong trained new recruits. He was tired, she knew. He was sore, she knew. Yet, she was lonely just the same.

     “I'm going to presume that the dead body by the front step is for decoration.” A rich voice that she so dearly missed wafted through the air, causing her to turn in a rush, nearly slipping on leaves.

     “Stephen!” The thought of rushing to him crossed her mind but it had been a long time with little word. She was left alone to care for the sanctum on her own with instruction to call at the first sign of trouble. With no trouble, she didn't call. And he rarely called her. Maybe he grew bored of her. Maybe he didn't want her any more. Maybe he finally realized she wasn't good enough for him. That he could do better. Reiko Martin stood rooted in place.

     “Rei, I see you've managed to entertain yourself while I've been away.” A slight smile graced his face.

     “You don't mind?”

     “I've been gone for over three weeks. I can hardly fault you for entertaining yourself even at cost of the respect of the sanctum.” Stephen held out his arm to her with the hope that she would come to him, that she would forgive him and when her fingers wove between his, he let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

     “I somehow managed to not let the place burn down.” Reiko joked, nuzzling into his shoulder as they walked up the steps together.

     “I'm back too. Nice to see you as well Dr. Martin.” Wong grumbled behind them, pretending that being ignored wasn't what he expected or that it bothered him in the slightest. He had pestered Strange to call home, to visit home during the last week or so of training when he realized that his Master had neglected his girlfriend while away. Sadly, by that time Strange felt it was too late to really fix things and promptly buried his head in the sand regarding the issue. It was good to see him home with her and some them acting something resembling normal. Though their interactions seemed off, chilled and slightly distant to him.

 

     “What are these?” Stephen had planned to sit in the dining room and go over paperwork while catching up with Reiko but it appeared that wasn't going to happen.

     “Pumpkins. Did you hit your head?” He watched as Reiko grabbed up a large and slightly intimidating knife and plunged it into one of the large vegetables, slowly struggling to cut the top off. Stephen was thankful that she had the foresight to lay down trash bags and newspapers to at least catch most of the mess.

     “Why are they on my table?” Stephen shoved himself a clear space to sit down and with a quick wave of his arms opened a portal to grab the books he needed to record the events of his trip in.

     “So I can carve them.” Wong made the wise choice to snag a few candies from the bowl and abandon them for his room, seeing exactly what sort of night was likely to lay ahead.

     “You could carve them on the floor.”

     “Leaning over them would be bad for my back, as you well know.” Reiko bit back, frustrated. He was back, for the first time in weeks and this was how they were going to be? She missed him and all they could do was bicker? Maybe she had made a mistake, staying here in New York.

     “You could help me, if you wanted to...” The words were softer, spoken half to herself while she fetched a bowl of candy from the counter. Chocolate would at least be happy to see her.

     When her back was turned, Stephen took her in. She hadn't even taken off her coat yet but it did little to hide the way her shoulders slumped and her head hung. This was it, he was messing everything up. He knew it, but he didn't know how not to. Finally, she was going to realize she made a mistake and leave him. Really, could he blame her? When she turned, she didn't look at him. Instead, she focused on the two pumpkins, not even bothering with a smile no matter how fake it would have been.

     “Feed me a chocolate?” He kept his eyes down on his work as he wrote. “Please?”

     He could feel as she hesitated. They both knew he didn't care much for chocolate. It was more a treat for her. Finally, the sound of the wrapper opening and the little chocolate kiss was held out to him. Rather than stop what he was doing, Stephen simply opened his mouth and glanced up at her.

     Again, she hesitated before pressing the chocolate treat into passed his lips. As she pulled her hand away, he caught her wrist. It hurt how timid she acted. It pained him that she no longer acted at ease with him.

     “Wait.” He murmured, before sucking the melted chocolate off the tips of her fingers as he did his best to hold her wrist as still as he could. Once the tips of her fingers were cleaned, he placed a soft kiss on each, then her palm. Finally, he nuzzled his face into her palm. It felt so good to touch her, to feel her even now, even with this unseen distance between them. It was his fault. He knew it.

     “Stephen?” Her voice was tight with emotion, tears held back.

     “What else do you have planned for today?” Stephen asked, speaking softly into her palm.

     “Tony is having a party. I was going to go after I finished with these pumpkins.... You could come too.”

     “I'm sorry.” Stephen finally freed her hand and she went back to her pumpkins. “I...I'm just not feeling up for a party. Go on and have fun without me.”

     It was just like that and the warmth was gone again. Reiko had wanted to take her time, making a intricate carving on each pumpkin but instead hacked two basic jack-o-lantern faces after emptying the bodies out. Hardly any words were shared between them and once the pumpkins were finished, she set them on each side of the front door.

     “I'm going upstairs.” He didn't look up for more than a moment when she spoke.

     “It is nice to be back.” Wong spoke when he saw her on the stairs.

     “I'm glad you think so.” She shrugged as she made her way up the rest of the stairs, leaving Wong to his thoughts.

     She snagged her costume from the room she had been unofficially sharing with Stephen. Never before had she felt out of place in the room but suddenly it felt like it was just his space, like she didn't belong. With a quick glance around, she snagged up some clothes for the next day and some clothes to wear to bed. This didn't feel like her space right now and so she retreated to that small room on the other side of the stairs and down the hall that she had once called her own, three months prior.

 

     “What are you doing?” Wong looked down at the man slumped over the book he currently wrote in.

     “Recording our training.” Stephen said plainly.

     “That's exactly the problem.”

     “What do you mean?” Stephen slammed his pen down. He already felt like shit, he didn't need this right now.

     “You have a beautiful woman I can only assume you still care for who you haven't seen in almost a month and you are doing paperwork.”

     “The paperwork needs to get done.” Stephen spoke while pinching the bridge of his nose.

     “Is the paperwork more important than she is?” Wong felt like he was talking to a child.

     “She will still be here when it's done.”

     “Will she?” With those words Wong turned and left.

     She would wait for him, wouldn't she?

     Stephen Strange looked around the room and really took it in. On the table, discarded were the templates for carving a cat and a night sky. Yet the chunks of pumpkin were simply harsh triangles and jagged lines. Swiftly, he walked to the front of the building and opened the front door. Just as he thought, two standard and somewhat boring jack-o-lanterns sat on the steps. Not the cat and night sky she had clearly planned.

     He had come home just as soon as he could and here he was, ruining her Halloween. She had decorated. She had got pumpkins. She set out to carve them all while keeping the sanctum clean and maintained. She had candy ready to hand out to children passing by. She had a party to attend. Then he came home and ruined it all. God, was he ever the largest ass. Could he blame her if she left? Surely she wouldn't.

     He didn't bother with the stairs and simply opened a portal to the hall in front of his door. Normally he would just open a portal inside. Sometimes he would find her sleeping, sometimes reading. It was so rare during the last month that he had time to come home, more often than not she would already be asleep. Yet that was okay with him. It calmed him to know she was still there, still waiting for him.

     So often, he watched her while she slept during his time in Kathmandu, yet he never had the heart to wake her. She worked hard for Stark, treating injuries when needed, helping triage civilians caught in battles and when things were calm, studying rare genetic conditions. She made good money, working for Stark and insisted on paying rent for the room she had only used for one night. It wouldn't have been right to wake her when she worked so hard on top of her studies under him. It was enough, to just watch her.

     The shake in his hand when he reached for the door was so pronounced it surprised him. With his hand hovering over the doorknob he stood like a fool. Stephen Strange, a fool. What a thought. The beautiful, amazing woman he hoped he would find beyond the door made him act a fool, made him feel a fool even after three months.

     It was his room, yet he felt no right to it at that moment. He left her alone. He hardly called her, spoke to her in three weeks. Yes, he saw her but did she know that? Did he leave her any way of knowing he paid her a visit while she slept? What a fool he was. Was it so hard to simply pick a flower from any one of the many pots and leave it on her pillow? In a glass on her nightstand? As a way to say he was there, that he was thinking of her when he had a moment.

     He didn't deserve her. The room was hers, she deserved it for putting up with him. She had but to say the word and he would banish himself to the room she technically was renting with it's small, slightly uncomfortable bed for however long she wished. Anything she wanted. Just so long as she didn't leave him. He couldn't lose her. He needed her like air and god did he pray he wasn't too late to realize that.

     Rather than just open the door, he knocked and waited. Silence was all he heard on the other side before trying again. After the third try, knocking on his own bedroom door, he opened it.

     The room was empty. Not literately, of course but it may as well have been for the way it felt. She wasn't in there. He could see where things were missing. It wasn't much, maybe a change of clothes. Her costume was gone, whatever it had been and her coat and phone were no where in sight.

     “Rei?” Stephen felt dumb, calling out to the empty room as if she would materialize out of nowhere, having mastered the sling ring while he was gone or perhaps an invisibility spell he didn't know, simply to pull a prank on him. Teach him a lesson. She didn't answer him.

     Running a hand through his hair he tried to think. Most of her things were still there. He had no reason to panic, yet panic was trying to bubble up in his heart. She deserved better than him. He should just sit on the bed and let her go. She would have to come back for her stuff and he could just tell her it was over. With a few brutal words he could quickly rip out her heart and set her free. That would be kinder than keeping her for as long as he could, slowly hurting her until she had enough.

     It didn't matter what he wanted in the end, the cloak on his shoulders made the choice for him, coming to life and pulling him out of the room. Stephen struggled, the last thing he needed was to fall over on his face or knock over some item that did god only knows what.

     “Fine, I'm going. Stop tugging before I put you in time out!” With a snap, the cloak returned to hanging freely from his frame but began pushing lightly from behind when he didn't start walking fast enough for it's liking. Who ever knew a loyal cloak would be more demanding than a dog?

 

     Reiko was surprised when there was a soft knock on the door to her little room. For a moment, she considered ignoring it. Wong would have said something after knocking and that really just left one other person it could be. She didn't want to hear him tell her to gather her things, to move them into this tiny room or find somewhere else to live. It would kill her to hear him say that the last three months were a mistake. Her heart would break hearing that they should have never kept things going after the first month. Nothing would hurt more than him saying that he didn't want her any more.

     Logically she knew she was going to extremes but it had been nearly four weeks. Almost one of the three months they had been together was spent with him gone. Four weeks and he had only seen her twice during that time. If he wasn't tired of her, wouldn't he have been more excited to see her? If he still wanted her, wouldn't he want to be around her? Wouldn't he acknowledge her for more than a few minutes at a time? When he knocked again, she sighed and slowly opened the door, but didn't say anything.

     For a moment, Stephens brain short circuited. In front of him stood his girlfriend, or at least he really hoped she still was, in a clingy short black dress with a red leather belt cinching the waist. A golden chain hung looped around the belt in places, hanging low on her hips in other places before the ends came together hand hung down past her hips. Knee high black boots hugged her calves and the swede looked soft enough to touch. The heel and pointed toe made her legs look tantalizingly long. Red and orange hair was curled, falling in waves of color around her shoulders. The mesh overlay on the dress became the only thing covering her as it moved over her chest, giving a hint of her cleavage before becoming nearly transparent over her shoulders. Atop her head rested a pointed witch's hat and a straw broom rested on the small bed behind her, next to a change of night clothes and a bag with what Stephen hoped was not more clothes.

     “Do you need help with something?” Reiko asked, looking pointedly at his chest. Looking him in the eye would hurt too much.

     “Do I need to?” Please don't be too late.

     “I've got to get to the party, so if you don't need me...” Stephen felt like he was drowning.

     “What if I do? Would you stay?”

     “It's a work party, I should go unless it's important.” He watched as she sighed.

     “I need you.”

     “Let's try and make it quick then, what can I help with?” Reiko wanted nothing more than to run, to give herself the night to harden her heart so she could figure out what to do.

     “No.” His large hands reached out for her. He ran them up and down her arms. It felt so good to touch her, to have his hands on her again. Why did he wait so long after coming back? The paper work, the report could have waited.

     “I need you.” He repeated, hooking his shaking fingers under her chin and pulling her face up so that he could see her, see the tears shining in her eyes. “You know that, right?”

     “Why didn't you come? Why didn't you call? Stephen, I was alone. It was a nightmare.” Tears fell from those eyes he loved so much and his heart hurt.

     “I did come. Nearly every night when my work was done. You'd be asleep and god did you always look so peaceful. You work so hard, I couldn't stand to wake you. It was enough for me to just watch you sleep and know you were safe. I should have. I should have woken you or left you a sign, something, anything. I missed you so much, Rei.” With each declaration, his voice got tighter as his own bottled emotions began to bubble over.

     “I need you. Please, don't leave me. Please don't go. Stay? Forget the party, we can watch horror movies and redo the pumpkins together. We can give out candy. You can let he hold you when we go to bed together. We can wake up in each other's arms.”

     “Stephen?” Reiko reached out to him, her hands curling in the now familiar folds of his garb as his own arms circled around her. She stepped into him as he pulled her close, burying his face in the crook of her neck. It felt as if he was holding onto her for dear life, his grip was so tight.

     “Please don't leave me.” He pleaded again. “I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.”

     “We can do better pumpkins next year.” Reiko wrapped her arms around his back and held him as tightly as she could. Things had come so close to going all wrong and now it felt as if he would disappear if she let go. “Let's go watch some movies?”

 

     Wong found them later that night, wrapped in a too large blanket in the only sitting room that had a TV. Some old movie was playing with overly dramatic effects. The movie paled to live up to the horror that almost befell the sanctum that day. Picking up the controller, he turned the screen off and turned to the lumps on the couch.

     Reiko was nestled under Stephen's arm, hand resting on his chest and sitting between two outstretched legs. The witch's hat had fallen and was sitting in her lap on its side. Stephen's hand was tangled in her hair at her shoulder, shake ever present even in his sleep. He had to be uncomfortable, one leg along the back of the couch, the other off to Reiko's side. His back leaned against the high arm of the couch, making the positioning of his legs somewhat reasonable yet Wong would be surprised if his hips didn't ache a little come morning.

     Looking at the sleeping couple, he saw what they did not. He saw pure power crackle around them. Wong wondered if Stephen would ever realize the way he responded to her, the way his magic seemed to jump out toward her. Even the cloak reached out to her. It was something Wong had read about once, a long time ago. It was something he had never thought he would live to see and now, he dearly hoped that these two would figure themselves out and not ruin what they could have.

     If they should succeed, the world would be all the better for it. He had no doubt that should they fail, his master would be wrecked and dark powers could take advantage of the time to strike. Maybe it would be better to tell him, to tell them? No, they deserved this chance, the chance to fall in love like a normal couple. He would keep the true horror that almost was this Halloween to himself for now at least.

     Wong stepped forward and watched again as the air crackled. Stephen could hardly sleep without checking on her while they were gone. This was why. He needed to be with her to rest. It was part of the bond that he didn't know they shared.

     No sorcerer was more powerful than the Sorcerer Supreme yet the man could still fall. He was only half of what was needed to truly protect the universe. He needed his other half, a sorceress who's power would rival his own, should she learn to tap it. A soul, made and bonded to him that he but only needed to find.

     Now that he found her, his power reached out to her, caressed her and coxed her raw power to respond. While she was a slow learner, her own mental blocks being the source of much of her stumbles, she did not lack in raw power. Stephen's power toyed with hers all night as they slept unaware. As they slept, he watched over her without even knowing. Yet, he never did figure out why he was restless each night away.

     The Sorcerer Supreme was truly a fool at times. Wong smiled as he stepped through the shower of sparks and nudged his master awake. He watched as the sparks winked out of existence the moment he stirred.

     “Don't sleep on the couch.” Was all Wong said before turning and leaving, smile wide on his face.

     Stephen gathered Reiko into his arms and shifted them into the bedroom, their bedroom where she belonged. He set her on the bed that was just a hair too soft for him, yet she claimed it to be perfect, before stripping down to his trousers.

     It was too late to change and he didn't want to wake her anyway. He slipped into the bed and pulled her close to him, amazed as always at how sound she slept. She was right where she belonged. It was where she should always be. It was where he needed her.

     They certainly didn't fall in love at first sight. Even now, they were not a perfect couple. Clearly they still lacked in communication. Yet, as Stephen Strange dozed into the most restful sleep he had in almost a months time, he wondered if Soul Mates where a real thing and if he had found his.

     “I love you, Reiko.” Stephen whispered, as sleep fully claimed him.

 

 


End file.
